About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 75

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 75. I Want to Get Married
‘Ah, you knew?’
I couldn’t help but open my eyes wide in surprise and stare at him.
At the corner of his mouth, tilted upward in that characteristic way, mischief and intrigue danced in his gaze.
“At Raber Salon, there are no entanglements between men and women, yet it seems you alone harbor feelings for me? Judging by how you maintain that stern expression while your actions betray something entirely different.”
“No, that’s not it.”
“It’s not?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then why did you kiss my forehead?”
Luderne gently pinched my ear and toyed with it.
“Your complexion is well-hidden beneath the heavy makeup, but your ears betray everything. You’re about to burst into flames.”
He was right—the heat had risen to its peak. His fingers felt so cool against my burning ears.
I was relieved that my identity as Priscilla hadn’t been exposed. Yet the embarrassment prevented me from meeting his gaze.
I should have kept my composure.
“I… I didn’t mean to…”
I apologized to him after reproaching myself several times over.
“I’m truly sorry. That was behavior I should never have committed.”
“There’s no need to apologize for what’s already done.”
He didn’t release me from the prison his arms had created.
“I said I was curious why you kissed my forehead.”
It seemed he was determined to hear the reason.
“If it’s difficult to explain the reason…”
Before I could even finish my question, Luderne answered first.
“Then we’ll stay like this. Until you tell me.”
…
Just as I expected.
I forced out a plausible excuse with a voice that barely came.
“Your Grace is so handsome… I was bewitched and made a mistake.”
Luderne stared at me intently. The silence stretched like a thousand years.
Just when I desperately wished he’d say something and let me go, the silence finally broke.
“Bewitched by my appearance, you say…”
I nodded quickly in agreement, and his gaze shifted away for a moment.
“Fine. I’ll accept that reason.”
I thought I’d be released now that he’d consented. But he remained exactly as he was.
“Um… how much longer do we have to stay like this? Weren’t you supposed to let me go once I explained?”
Unable to wait any longer, I asked. Luderne lifted my chin with his finger and lowered his head.
“Did I say I’d let you go?”
“But you said we’d stay like this until I told you the reason…!”
As I tried to protest, I gasped in surprise and held my breath.
Our lips nearly touched.
Luderne’s breath was so close I could feel it distinctly.
“Will an apology suffice?”
“Then, what am I supposed to do?”
The moment his crimson eyes pierced through me with their gaze, I recognized the desire I knew all too well burning in those eyes.
At the sight of it, cold sweat broke across my spine.
Luderne’s voice dropped even lower.
“If you’ve already touched me, you must repay in kind.”
“R-repay, Your Grace?”
“You threw yourself at me with your body, so you must settle the debt with your body as well.”
It was an audacious and utterly shameless demand.
I was startled and hastily tried to dissuade him.
“It, it was a mistake. And… besides, the Grand Duke and I, we have such a vast difference in station, don’t we?”
“A difference in station?”
“I’m a commoner, after all.”
“Station means nothing for a single night’s companion.”
Even as he spoke, the lips that seemed about to touch drew apart once more.
Fortunately, the atmosphere suggested he was withdrawing, so I exhaled in relief.
“This, this is the Raber Salon in broad daylight.”
Luderne chuckled softly.
“Madame Raber told me that while I use this place, there won’t be a soul in this building.”
So he already knew.
“Then no one will enter.”
That statement only deepened my panic.
“Even, even so, you can’t do this with just any woman!”
“That’s hardly a remark a commoner should make to a nobleman.”
In the end, I fell silent.
Rather than backing away, Luderne slowly traced my sealed lips with his thumb.
“Tell me. How will you compensate me?”
His words and actions, growing increasingly brazen in their desire, left me utterly flustered. And confused.
According to Madame Raber, Luderne was cold, indifferent, utterly uninterested in women, and so ascetic he kept no mistress whatsoever.
At least, that was what the Central Society knew.
Of course, I knew better.
Luderne Wintem was a man of fierce passion. When I was his mistress on Heril Island, he came every day to satisfy his desires.
‘Madame Raber simply doesn’t know.’
Luderne must have already found sufficient outlets for his desires through his own channels elsewhere.
I pressed my lips together tightly.
No matter what, experiencing actions he likely reserved for other women was shocking.
“If you bite your lips like that, you’ll hurt yourself.”
Luderne parted my lips slightly before lowering his head again.
“You were the one who seduced me first.”
“!”
This time, our lips truly met.
Sweet and soft, the foreign sensation mingled with my breath, and the pressure intensified gradually.
Despite it being merely a kiss, his scent transmitted to me was intoxicating. Utterly enchanting.
Yet simultaneously, I despised it.
Luderne was me now, but he was kissing another woman—not me. So I should have pushed him away.
But I couldn’t.
My body refused to obey my reason. It moved only as my heart desired.
In the end, I could only close my eyes and grip the coat hanger holding his fresh shirt tightly with both hands.
He snatched the hanger from my grasp and hurled it aside.
Luderne’s muscular arms, firm and powerful, wrapped around my waist. In that instant, my entire body pressed flush against his.
The kiss was so intense it threatened to consume me. Even as I gasped for breath, anticipation surged within me.
In that moment, I realized what I truly wanted.
‘I’ve lost my mind!’
Such absurd anticipation in this brightly lit salon.
Then, my body was suddenly lifted.
‘Good heavens!’
In an instant, I was laid upon the daybed positioned nearby. Luderne seemed fully intent on proceeding with this madness.
But in a fleeting glance at the mirror, I caught my reflection.
Not “Priscilla,” but “Priscilla” in her true form.
My senses snapped back into focus.
If my makeup were to smudge in broad daylight!
‘This cannot happen!’
Just then, his scorching lips descended upon my neck. His long, pale fingers explored me with unbridled desire.
“W-wait, please, Your Grace.”
But he gave no response. He coveted me like a beast long starved.
“This is my workplace. The location is inappropriate.”
“There’s no one here.”
“I cannot concentrate like this….”
I recalled that my face is less visible at night. At least in darkness, it would be somewhat safer.
“P-please come at night.”
“…So if I come at night, you’ll receive me anytime?”
“Yes. At night. I’ll leave the door unlocked.”
“Very well, at night too.”
The meaning behind his answer differed from mine.
He showed no sign of stopping. His hand, having already lifted the hem of my dress, was now expertly finding its way to the most intimate place.
“No, you mustn’t.”
I writhed against the intense sensation that was becoming undeniably apparent.
“Ah!”
As a moan escaped me, I heard his low chuckle.
“Lying is your daily habit. You wanted me from the start, so don’t pretend otherwise.”
He’d struck a nerve.
I didn’t hate the way his hands found me so eagerly, just as he said.
No—I liked it.
But if this continued, my makeup would be completely ruined, and then my identity would inevitably be exposed. I had to stop him, no matter what.
In that moment, a foolproof way to halt him flashed through my mind.
“If you’re going to do this in broad daylight, then please be prepared to do it properly.”
“What… do you mean by that?”
“I want to marry you.”
It was precisely the demand he would least welcome.
“And I’d like to bear the Grand Duke’s child as well.”
As expected, his movements ceased immediately. Luderne remained perfectly still for a long moment.
“You’re driving me mad.”
He exhaled a long sigh through his nose and rose from his position.
“Your greed knows no bounds. The mood is ruined.”
With those words, Luderne returned to the fitting platform.
I hurriedly straightened my clothes and checked the mirror. Fortunately, only my lipstick had smudged.
His lips bore my lipstick stain quite prominently as well.
“Please don’t do that anymore.”
“But you said you’d leave the door open at night.”
“You already knew lying is my daily habit.”
“…”
I retrieved a handkerchief dampened with makeup remover and carefully cleaned his lips. Then I took out another shirt.
His muscular torso was covered by a black silk shirt.
I elegantly tied a silver cravat around his neck and adorned the cuffs of his sleeves as well.
After draping a subtly lustrous gray vest and jacket over him, I adjusted his slightly tousled hair.
The finishing touch was an ornately crafted sword stick.
Luderne fastened the sword stick I handed him at his side and stood before the mirror.
Though I had styled him myself, I couldn’t help but marvel. Luderne looked absolutely radiant, as if a god of beauty had descended to earth.
He examined his reflection from various angles and nodded in approval.
“Quite satisfactory. I’m pleased.”
“I’m glad you’re satisfied.”
“You’ve worked hard. I’ll visit again next time.”
I escorted Luderne to the entrance of the Salon.
“Phew… I’ve aged ten years.”
I had just returned to the Fourth Floor and was about to begin tidying up.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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